


Din the Dough-Faced Disaster

by GlamorousGamine



Category: The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Gen, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-07
Updated: 2020-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:34:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,353
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23047087
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GlamorousGamine/pseuds/GlamorousGamine
Summary: Din shaves. The Baby™ is suspicious. Who’s this guy?(45/50 of margarethx‘s Mandadlorian Writing Prompts)
Relationships: Baby Yoda & The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV)
Comments: 21
Kudos: 215





	Din the Dough-Faced Disaster

Din felt the helmet catch at his beard and knew he was long overdue for a shave.

He’d meant to do it much earlier–what good was a Mandalorian who didn’t practice basic hygiene–but something always came up. Trying to conserve water on the ship, too tired after a job, had more important things to do.

And then there was the kid’s reaction.

Once his stubble had reached the spiky stage the kid had been enthralled with patting and rubbing his hands all over this strange new texture. He had to practically pry the baby off in order to get work done, though Din was heartbroken when the kid refused to let him hug his face too close to give him a kiss. Too prickly, and the kid would make his discomfort known with low twitches of his ears as he turned his face away and made small kicks. As long as he could touch the beard though, he was happy.

Then the spiky phase passed and the kid relished in rubbing his hands and face into the fuzz growing out of Dad’s face. It was becoming a minor skirmish every time Din needed some time alone as the kid clung to him, kicking and wailing if Din held him so much as an arm’s length away from him. The kid yanking on his beard and his helmet doing the same just now were the last straws.

There was nothing else left to do on the ship, they were currently coasting through hyperspace, and the kid was thankfully distracted with The Ball to pay attention to him. Din had to take his chances when he got them.

He stepped into the fresher and closed the door, splashed water on his face, then got his beard soaped up until his entire jaw was covered in bubbles. He had to laugh a bit and wondered how his kid would squeal at such a sight, but he couldn’t risk distractions right now. Picking up his razor, he swiped and swiped and removed weeks of growth, each tap of his razor on the edge of the sink filling the sink with more hair.

There was a small but insistent knock on the door of fresher. “Hold on _ad’ika_ , I’m busy.”

The kid answered with a cranky whine, but he didn’t hear any more knocks after that.

Another splash of water and Din looked in the mirror. He may’ve gone overboard, shaving off even his mustache and ever-present chin stubble, but he was just relieved to be rid of all that itchy growth. Once it grew back in a few days he could shape it however he wanted. Draining the sink and drying off with a towel, Din opened the door to the fresher, smiling towards his child.

The kid started towards Din, but halted, the smile on his face falling to slack-jawed gaping. Din stepped towards him but he stepped back, raising a hand, and Din felt the light touch of the kid’s mind on his own. _Who? Who? Whowhowhowho-_ The kid lowered his hand and peered up into Din’s eyes, but his face was still scrunched up in skepticism.

“Hey, c’mon now _ad’ika_ ,” Din said, hoping the sound of his voice would soothe the kid. Instead, the kid simply became more guarded, likely wondering who this thing was that sounded like Dad and looked almost like Dad but didn’t and thus was not to be trusted. When Din picked him up, for once the kid seemed to be avoiding contact with Dad as much as possible, leaning away as far as he could. “Sorry, but it was beginning to itch, and I couldn’t wear my helmet anymore.” He gently got a trembling hand and put it on his cheek.

Whatever reaction Din was expecting, complete and utter bawling followed by a slap to the face wasn’t it.

There was a sudden shove as the kid jumped out of his arms and scurried away. Before Din could get his footing again, the kid scrambled into the crib and hid under the covers, his earlier sobs giving away to whimpering as he tried to quiet himself and hope the dough-faced demon didn’t come after him.

Din tried to approach the cradle only to be rebuffed by an invisible shield. “ _Ad’ika,_ it’s me!” he shouted, but to no avail. The kid would peek out from under his blankets and then immediately dive back under. Din sighed, running a hand over the smooth face that was now giving his kid nightmares. His chest clenched with guilt, and he had to think of how to get the kid used to this.

He grabbed the towel on his shoulder and went for his helmet, then stopped as the idea struck him.

* * *

“ _Ad’ika_.”

The Child straightened out of his crib at the familiar metallic voice. Dad was back! He had to tell him about what had happened, about the monster that had replaced him. He sounded like dad and even felt like dad, but the mask wasn’t right and the Child knew it wasn’t Dad. At seeing that helmet look into his crib, the Child lifted his arms up. _Up! Now! Up!_ He hadn’t been able to nuzzle in so long!

Dad lifted him into a hug and the Child climbed to his shoulder, pressing his face into the cape, then pressing at the helmet with an insistent, “Ahff. Ahff.”

“Off, right,” Dad said. “You know it’s me with the helmet on-” Of course he knew! Now if only Dad would stop stalling. “And you know when I take the helmet on, it’s still me.” Yes yes now off with the helmet now! There was no one else around so why did he have to wait?

Dad lifted the helmet and the Child paused. Around Dad’s face was a dark cloth, and all he could see were Dad’s eyes. They looked nervous, and so the Child reached out with comfort, smiling as he felt Dad’s presence. _Don’t be scared. I’ll protect you from the monster._ That seemed to help Dad a little, but still the Child could sense the fear.

“It’s me, you know it’s me, right _ad’ika_?”

 _Yes, yes I know it’s you!_ The Child chirped. _It’s you!_

“And when I take this off, it’s still gonna be me, right?”

The Child repeated his chirps, then grabbed at the cloth to finally touch the dark face fuzz.

Instead he got the bare face of the demon. Panic seized him and he began to cry, but then the cloth went back up. _Dad!_ he wanted to cry. But wait, the person who had been holding him hadn’t changed. It was Dad before, and it was Dad now. So who was that when the cloth had come down? He glanced at his dad eyes, and the scared had come back, along with sad. The Child cooed, reaching his hands out, but his Dad held tight to the cloth. The Child paused, and then nuzzled close. This was his Dad, yes, and when the cloth went away his Dad would still be the one holding him. He tugged at the cloth more insistently this time, nodding at Dad. _It’ll be okay_.

Dad looked back and took a deep breath, then took the cloth down, his eyes still full of scared-sad. The child patted a hand to the bare face, then hugged close. He missed the fuzz, but he was glad his Dad was back, and from the way Dad sighed, he was glad too.

* * *

For the next few days, Din kept the helmet on around the kid, much to the Child’s pouting. Once he had enough growth for his mustache and light beard to come back, he did some maintenance and stepped out of the fresher with his helmet off.

The kid’s reaction was immediate as his ears perked and he clapped at seeing an old familiar face again, waddling over to Din to be picked up. Din felt warm as his _ad’ika_ nuzzled against him, and even when he felt a light tug at his face, he felt it was all worth it.

**Author's Note:**

> Also on Tumblr at https://fortunefavorstheway.tumblr.com/post/611899123457818624/din-the-dough-faced-disaster


End file.
